Nestlé is a public limited multinational with head quarters in Vaud, Switzerland. The company manufactures and markets processed food and has diversified holdings in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, medical equipment and weight loss industries. Nestlé was founded in 1905 from a merger between Anglo-Swiss Milk Company and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé Company. It specializes in the production of baby foods, bottled water, dairy products, breakfast cereals, ice cream, nutrition, beverages, chocolate and confectionery as well as a diverse array of prepared foods and miscellaneous pet care products. [1] Nestle is the world's largest food company and the world's largest producer of dairy products. [2], [3]

Nestlé global brands include Nescafé coffee, Perrier bottled water, Ralston Purina pet food, Buitoni, Friskies, Maggi, Nestea, and Nestlé. U.S. brands include Baby Ruth candy bars, Taster's Choice coffee, Good Start and Nan infant formulas, Libby's juice, Carnation milk, Alpo pet food, Stouffer's frozen foods, PowerBar , Poland Spring bottled water as well as Dreyer's and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. The company ranks number one in terms of food sales. Nestlé is the world leader in coffee (Nescafé) and one of the leading makers of bottled water (Perrier). It is also a top pet food maker (Purina). The company also owns Gerber Products and Jenny Craig. In addition to its own products, Nestlé owns about 52% of Alcon Inc. (ophthalmic drugs, contact-lens solutions, and equipment for ocular surgery) and some 30% of cosmetics giant L'Oréal.[4]

In the fiscal year ending in December of 2009, the company reported sales of approximately $103.68 billion dollars and had 278,000 employees.[5]

Access Nestlé's corporate rap sheet compiled and written by Good Jobs Firsthere.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

USDA AWA reports

As of May 26, 2009, the USDA began posting all inspection reports for animal breeders, dealers, exhibitors, handlers, research facilities and animal carriers by state. See also USDA Animal Welfare Inspection Reports.

Labor issues

Nestlé was once again at the center of controversy for buying cocoa which may have been produced using child slaves from the Ivory Coast and Ghana, .[12]. A report by the BBC showed that hundreds of thousands of children in various african countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo were being purchased from their families and sent to Ivory Coast, to be sold as slaves to cocoa farms.

"These children, ranging in age from 12 to 14 years (and sometimes younger) were being forced to do hard manual labor 80 to 100 hours a week, paid nothing, barely fed and beaten regularly. In the widespread uproar caused by the reports, Nestlé expressed its 'concerns' over the use of child labour but could not confirm that none of its chocolate was derived from slave-labour sources"[13][14]

Working against unions: 2002

Many allegations and accusations have been made as to Nestlé's involment in oppressive and hostile measures taken towards worker unions. In late 2001 management at a Nestlé subsidiary named Comestibles La Rosa threatened workers that in order to keep their jobs they were obliged to renounce union membership.

"Even now, Nestlé has refused to acknowledge publicly the work of the unions and to disassociate itself from any threat and use of force against their members. In October 2002 and March 2003, SINALTRAINAL tried, with the support of various Swiss trade unions and social movements, to make contact with the central management of Nestlé with a view to solving the problems in Colombia. Nestlé has twice refused such discussions."[15]

Human rights issues

The Ethiopia scandal

Oxfam, a group of "thirteen non-governmental organizations from three continents working worldwide to fight poverty and injustice", revealed that Nestlé was demanding millions of dollars in compensation from the Ethiopian government. The $6 million demand was issued for shares in the agricultural firm ELIDCO (Ethiopian Livestock Development Company), which was nationalised following the military coup d'etat of 1975. The money demanded by Nestlé "could provide clean water to more than 4 million people in Ethiopia and fund the construction of 6,500 wells".[16]

Human rights violations in Colombia: 2008

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT), led by Nobel peace prize winner, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, accused 43 companies present in Colombia of various human rights violations. The Tribunal, consisting of various international notables, made such accusations after almost three years of investigating allegations of human rights violations in Colombia.

Among the companies accused of human rights violations are Coca Cola, Nestlé, British Petroleum (BP) and Telefonica. The PPT also said the Colombian Government is equally responsible for the violation of human rights, “favoring capital over people’s lives”. [17]

Luciano Enrique Romero was a trade unionist and a fired Nestlé factory worker whose body was found in a paramilitary-controlled area of Colombia in 2006. The body had been tied up and showed evidence of torture. He had been been stabbed 40 times. Romero's widow, Colombian labor union SINALTRAINAL and the Washington-based International Labor Rights Fund filed a lawsuit in Miami charging Nestlé USA and Nestlé of Colombia with complicity in his death. According to the suit, "Nestlé operated in complicity with the paramilitary", so much so that there was even evidence that "Nestlé plant managers met openly with them inside the factory in Valledupar, in northern Colombia"[18], [19]

Product safety issues

Artificial baby milk controversy: 2006

As the world's largest artificial baby milk producer, Nestlé has been pinpointed as a leading cause of the increasing worldwide infant mortality rates. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1.5 million infants die each year because of inappropriate feeding, given the fact that children vulnerable to disease are being fed with artificial breastmilk substitutes rather than naturally breastfed.[20]

"A World Health Organization (WHO) International Code governing the marketing of artificial baby milk, drawn up in 1981 and agreed by 118 countries, says breastfeeding should be promoted above all other products and that leaflets and labels relating to breast milk substitutes should do nothing to undermine this. But Nestlé and other companies have been accused of flouting the rules with advertising, free samples, promotions and sponsorships. The latest monitoring report from the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) uncovered about 2,000 violations of the code in 69 countries, with Nestlé responsible for more violations than any other of the big 16 baby food companies studied"[21][22]

Fraudulent Labeling: 2002

In November 2002, police ordered Nestlé Colombia to withdraw from the market nearly 200 tons of imported powdered milk. The milk had come from Uruguay under the brand name Conaprole, but the packages had been relabeled as coming from a nearby Nestlé factory, as well as being stamped with false production dates that differed almost an entire year from the ACTUAL production dates. A month later another 120 tons with similarly false country of origin and production dates were discovered, indicating the presence of systematic fraud.[23]

Anti-trust & tax practices

Spy hired to infiltrate NGO: 2008

The Swiss chapter of anti-globalizaion NGO Attac asked local authorities to investigate Nestlé for allegedly hiring a spy to infiltrate the group. The legal complaint was filed after learning that an employee of the Securitas AG security company took part in its private meetings between late 2003 and June 2004. "The meetings were part of a research project that culminated in the publication of a book titled "Attac against the Nestle Empire," which criticized the company's position on genetically modified organisms, water privatization and trade unions."[24]

Corporate accountability

Over the past 50 years, Nestlé has been at the center of documented controversy concerning its methods of marketing processed milk or baby formula as a substitute for breastfeeding. The company's activities attracted worldwide attention during the Nestlé boycott of 1977, [25] which led the company to make various attempts to improve its public image, launching some Fairtrade products in the meantime[26] All the controversy surrounding the swiss conglomerate has contributed to making it one of the world's most boycotted brands[27]

In spite of numerous and controversial accusations, Nestlé's Business Code of Conduct asserts that:

"Since its founding, Nestlé’s business practices have been governed by integrity, honesty, fair dealing and full compliance with all applicable laws. Nestlé employees worldwide have upheld and lived this commitment in their every day responsibilities ever since, and Nestlé’s reputation remains one of the Company’s most important assets today."[28]

Social responsibility initiatives

Perhaps in order to turn attention aware from its negative product safety and human rights publicity, Nestle has begun to greenwash itself, releasing reports regarding its reduced carbon emissions and water withdrawal over the last decade.[29], [30]